This Period Ad Is Like None You've Ever Seen Before

Everyone’s talking about the new commercial by U.K. sanitary pad brand Bodyform, and with good reason. The enthralling clip, entitled “Blood,” is just that: unapologetically bloody.

Whereas most feminine hygiene ads use a mysterious blue liquid as a stand-in for the real stuff, Bodyform skips the synthetic fluid and instead features fearless female athletes who are bloodied, but not limited, by various sports injuries.

We like Bodyform’s decision to get gory because it stomps on an unnecessarily taboo topic. But the ad is also a good reminder that exercising on your period can be a really good thing: It can help with annoying symptoms, like pain and bloating. And thanks to hormonal shifts, you may even get more out of fast-paced workouts, like high-intensity interval training, than you would at other points in your cycle.